Looking for new fish finder for smaller lakes - 1 mile or so and 40 ft deep with lots of rock/tree structure

[E-H]

I have an old fish finder from about 12 or more years ago.  It works for depth and seems eh for locating fish (shows a fish on the screen).  Very basic.  Old sonar method.

 

Wondering if it is worth it to upgrade....The lake I fish in is crystal clear and when I get shallow it shows fish where there definitely aren't, but just a down tree.  It's just not that accurate.  I can see some big rocks about 10-12ft down with my eyes, but the lake gets to 40' and would like to figure out what's down there at those depths.  All SMB in this lake.

 

I read the CHIRP is better than the technology I have,  and side imaging has been out there for a while now but can be a little confusing to interpret.

 

Looking to spend under $600 (way under if I can get a vast improvement for fish location and structure imaging).  I want simple if possible.  I fish from my modded 1542 Jon Boat and typically about 30' to 40' out from shore.  It drops off quickly in spots and shallow in others.  I don't need anything over 100' or more in depth, so I guess the higher frequencies is what I would need for the most part.

 

NOTE:  I see the arches on videos and not really a fan of that.  I guess I could get used to that if that's what is displayed.

 

Any suggestions on something that won't break the bank but will meet my needs with a set it and forget it type of unit.

 

Thanks!

[MN Fisher]

If you don't need built-in maps - a Garmin Striker 7sv will give you chirp, downscan and sidescan for just over $500. I does include map-making capabilities, you can create a map of your lake.

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Transducer-Fishfinder-Traditional-Quickdraw/dp/B076W9JSK1

[E-H]

23 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

If you don't need built-in maps - a Garmin Striker 7sv will give you chirp, downscan and sidescan for just over $500. I does include map-making capabilities, you can create a map of your lake.

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Transducer-Fishfinder-Traditional-Quickdraw/dp/B076W9JSK1

Thanks.  I don't need maps but it would be cool to create one for the lake.  Sounds like a really good option.

 

I am assuming this would be incredibly different/improved than my $129 fish finder from 12 years or more ago?  And it would work better for actually locating the fish.  There are tons of fish in the lake and I can grab 100 in mid summer (mostly smaller SMB) but I am looking for the 3-4 lbers hiding under some deeper structure, as one example.  I get some 2lbers pre-spawn/spawn but the bigger ones have eluded me for the most part.  A relative has snagged a few though, so I know there are some in there.

 

So is it easy to use?  I just read that it is.

 

Also - would the 5" screen be big enough?  Nearly 1/2 the price.  I would be just a few feet from where I would install it.  I see that doesn't have the side imaging.  Disregard.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, E-H said:

I am assuming this would be incredibly different/improved than my $129 fish finder from 12 years or more ago? 

I upgraded from a 3-year old Lowrance Hook 2-4 to a Striker 7cv (no sidescan) last year. The difference was incredible even then...and it didn't take long to learn the Garmin, the interface is relatively intuitive.

[casts_by_fly]

A Lowrance Hook reveal 5 with a split shot transducer is running $279 right now at TW.  For another $60 you can buy the same but with inland maps included.  If you don't want side imaging, this is the best deal running right now.

 

I run side imaging in my kayak all the way down to 0.5-1.0 mph and have a good picture.  Sure its more information faster at higher boat speed, but tune your scroll speed to your boat speed and you're fine.  If side imaging is useful for you then get it.  I love it in mine.

[E-H]

18 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

A Lowrance Hook reveal 5 with a split shot transducer is running $279 right now at TW.  For another $60 you can buy the same but with inland maps included.  If you don't want side imaging, this is the best deal running right now.

 

I run side imaging in my kayak all the way down to 0.5-1.0 mph and have a good picture.  Sure its more information faster at higher boat speed, but tune your scroll speed to your boat speed and you're fine.  If side imaging is useful for you then get it.  I love it in mine.

Thanks.  I just watched a bunch of videos on how the side imaging works etc...Yes - I can change the settings and it will be fine.  Or I can just troll the lake a little faster and get the better images I need.

 

I didn't realize the down imaging is more for fish and the side imaging is mostly just structure.  I do want the side imagining so I can find the deep pockets of rocks/logs etc...

 

I am thinking of getting the Garmin 9sv to make sure I can see well enough without being on top of it.  I looked at the liveview stuff but that costs more than my boat.  Yikes.

 

[DaubsNU1]

I fished for years with an old Bottom Line Fishin Buddy...and switched to Garmin Echomap UHD 7SV.

 

So from this...

 

 

To this...

 

 

Side view is AWESOME! 

 

Got mine on clearance from Scheels. it has the older GT-54 transducer. It was $499.

 

[E-H]

14 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

I fished for years with an old Bottom Line Fishin Buddy...and switched to Garmin Echomap UHD 7SV.

 

So from this...

 

 

To this...

 

 

Side view is AWESOME! 

 

Got mine on clearance from Scheels. it has the older GT-54 transducer. It was $499.

 

My current fish finder isn't quite that old but not too far from it.

 

Guess it might be worth it...since it's a small upgrade  ?

 

Is the 7 plenty big or do wish you would have gone with the 9?  Just curious because I am trying to decide between the 2 sizes and looking at it from a budget standpoint too.

[DaubsNU1]

I mounted mine up front, and attached transducer to the bottom of my 20 year old Minn Kota.

 

7" is plenty big enough for me. My boat is only 14' with 20hp Merc.

 

I'm not fishing big water.

 

[casts_by_fly]

I have a Helix 7 with side imaging on it.  If you are sticking to one view at a time, then 7" is plenty.  If you are splitting the view two or three ways and moving full speed then I'd prefer bigger.  So for me, that means swapping views depending on if I am beating the bank (side, often just to one side, plus 2D), targeting a specific dropoff/point/etc (chartview + 2D or side, sometimes both), transiting a distance (usually side on full screen or side plus chart if I need a map), etc.  The helix lets you turn on and off views and customize each set of views, so I just scroll through until I find what I want.

 

If you can swing a 9, I'd get a 9.  I would go for the best quality you can swing in a 7 before I got a cheaper 9 though.

1 minute ago, DaubsNU1 said:

I mounted mine up front, and attached transducer to the bottom of my 20 year old Minn Kota Motorguide.

 

7" is plenty big enough for me. My boat is only 14' 16' with 20hp Merc.

 

I'm not fishing big water.

 

 

There ya go.  Just corrected it for my dad's boat which just got a slight new setup.  He went from a 2000's lowrance equivalent of the Fishin Buddy at the consol because he broke the transducer for the umpteenth time and we couldn't fix it.  He already had a 7" elite Ti on the front that he moved to the back and threw an Elite FS 7" in its place on the bow.

[E-H]

16 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

I mounted mine up front, and attached transducer to the bottom of my 20 year old Minn Kota.

 

7" is plenty big enough for me. My boat is only 14' with 20hp Merc.

 

I'm not fishing big water.

 

Thanks for the pic.  It looks like it could be big enough.  I will probably have 2 people who would want to see it - front and back of my 1542.  Mostly would be me in the front casting deck.

14 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I have a Helix 7 with side imaging on it.  If you are sticking to one view at a time, then 7" is plenty.  If you are splitting the view two or three ways and moving full speed then I'd prefer bigger.  So for me, that means swapping views depending on if I am beating the bank (side, often just to one side, plus 2D), targeting a specific dropoff/point/etc (chartview + 2D or side, sometimes both), transiting a distance (usually side on full screen or side plus chart if I need a map), etc.  The helix lets you turn on and off views and customize each set of views, so I just scroll through until I find what I want.

 

If you can swing a 9, I'd get a 9.  I would go for the best quality you can swing in a 7 before I got a cheaper 9 though.

 

There ya go.  Just corrected it for my dad's boat which just got a slight new setup.  He went from a 2000's lowrance equivalent of the Fishin Buddy at the consol because he broke the transducer for the umpteenth time and we couldn't fix it.  He already had a 7" elite Ti on the front that he moved to the back and threw an Elite FS 7" in its place on the bow.

Thanks.  I think I would probably use both side view and down view at the same time if possible.  I may use the sv first and then circle back with the down view if the screen isn't big enough.  The lake is only about a mile so I can go over it all pretty quickly, even with the trolling motor.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, E-H said:

Thanks for the pic.  It looks like it could be big enough.  I will probably have 2 people who would want to see it - front and back of my 1542.  Mostly would be me in the front casting deck.

Thanks.  I think I would probably use both side view and down view at the same time if possible.  I may use the sv first and then circle back with the down view if the screen isn't big enough.  The lake is only about a mile so I can go over it all pretty quickly, even with the trolling motor.

 

side view is great for seeing what is off to the sides without running over it. It’s a good way to visualize and highlight depressions, ditches, and find rocks/stumps. I find that I don’t run side and down together very much. I think down is the least useful for me personally. 
 

 

[E-H]

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

side view is great for seeing what is off to the sides without running over it. It’s a good way to visualize and highlight depressions, ditches, and find rocks/stumps. I find that I don’t run side and down together very much. I think down is the least useful for me personally. 
 

 

Thanks.  I will probably use the side view quite a bit but do plan on isolating some bigger fish 20-25 ft. using the down view.  Those elusive 3-4lbers!   I do plan on plotting the lake out which should be helpful and nice to have too.

[Boomstick]

23 hours ago, E-H said:

I am assuming this would be incredibly different/improved than my $129 fish finder from 12 years or more ago?  And it would work better for actually locating the fish.

The Strikers are pretty solid units all around. The biggest thing you lose out is they do not have maps, but if it's one lake just drive around the lake and make your own chart. The quality of a 7" Striker Vivid compared to a 12 year old $129 unit will blow you away. The 7" and 9" have the same number of pixels, so the 7" will appear sharper but the 9" is a little easier to see in sun glare.

[E-H]

4 hours ago, Boomstick said:

The Strikers are pretty solid units all around. The biggest thing you lose out is they do not have maps, but if it's one lake just drive around the lake and make your own chart. The quality of a 7" Striker Vivid compared to a 12 year old $129 unit will blow you away. The 7" and 9" have the same number of pixels, so the 7" will appear sharper but the 9" is a little easier to see in sun glare.

Thanks.  Now I am looking at the 7" echomap uhd because in the future livescope will work on it....Getting way too pricey though.  I think the Garmin 7sv will be fantastic compared to what I have for sure.  Hey my birthday is not too far away... ?

[E-H]

Ok!  Hit the jackpot.  I went to a major store 35 minutes away tonight.  Saw they had the striker vivid 7sv in stock.  I had a couple of questions before purchasing.   Got there and the one guy working there said the other guy on his break is the expert.  But told me they have some of last years models in the back.  The echo map uhd 73sv.  Price was $20 below the striker one.  
 

Has maps (not very important) , touch screen, better screen, better transducer, and is compatible with the live view transducers.  A nice upgrade for sure and less money. 
 

The expert guy came out and said this is the Father’s Day special price - not meant to be sold now.  But he honored it today because the other guy told me a price and wasn’t aware.  The entire situation was luck.  And I am heading to the lake this Friday for the weekend.

 

I basically got close to $300 off the normal price.  Reading up on installation and watching videos to make sure I get it functioning properly and quickly. 
 

Thanks everyone for all the insight/input.

 

Pretty stoked to use it in a couple of days. I will mount it to my bow mount terrova.

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

that sounds like a great outcome.   Congrats!

 

Now which store so that we can look out for that sale in a couple weeks.

[Boomstick]

On 6/1/2022 at 1:40 PM, E-H said:

Thanks.  Now I am looking at the 7" echomap uhd because in the future livescope will work on it....Getting way too pricey though.  I think the Garmin 7sv will be fantastic compared to what I have for sure.  Hey my birthday is not too far away... ?

I have the echomap and my kids got the prior model with the gt54uhd transducer instead of the new improved gt56uhd for $450 each. Since we do a lot of lake hopping and on kayaks, the maps are incredibly useful. If we fished the same lake or two, I would pick a day and paddle around and make a map and be happy.

[E-H]

23 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

that sounds like a great outcome.   Congrats!

 

Now which store so that we can look out for that sale in a couple weeks.

It starts with a C and ends in Abelas. 

[WRB]

On 5/31/2022 at 6:16 AM, E-H said:

I have an old fish finder from about 12 or more years ago.  It works for depth and seems eh for locating fish (shows a fish on the screen).  Very basic.  Old sonar method.

 

Wondering if it is worth it to upgrade....The lake I fish in is crystal clear and when I get shallow it shows fish where there definitely aren't, but just a down tree.  It's just not that accurate.  I can see some big rocks about 10-12ft down with my eyes, but the lake gets to 40' and would like to figure out what's down there at those depths.  All SMB in this lake.

 

I read the CHIRP is better than the technology I have,  and side imaging has been out there for a while now but can be a little confusing to interpret.

 

Looking to spend under $600 (way under if I can get a vast improvement for fish location and structure imaging).  I want simple if possible.  I fish from my modded 1542 Jon Boat and typically about 30' to 40' out from shore.  It drops off quickly in spots and shallow in others.  I don't need anything over 100' or more in depth, so I guess the higher frequencies is what I would need for the most part.

 

NOTE:  I see the arches on videos and not really a fan of that.  I guess I could get used to that if that's what is displayed.

 

Any suggestions on something that won't break the bank but will meet my needs with a set it and forget it type of unit.

 

Thanks!

You need to learn what your sonar unit is displaying. What you see as a fish using fish ID mod isn’t a fish. Your unit can only display the air in the fishes bladder, all fish look the same depending on size and swimming speed.

1. Turn off the fish ID mod .

2. Learn to use the sonar in manual settings in lieu of automatic factory settings.

3. Clear water sparse aquatic vegetation I suggest buying Don Iovino paper back book Finesse Bass Fishing and the Sonar Connection. Excellent tutorial on basic sonar use and settings, plus finesse techniques that work in clear structure lakes.

Chirp helps separate sonar returns for background cover. 

After to practice using your current sonar in manual setting and reading Don’s book, then you will be more informed and able to read sonar to take advantage of the newer technology?

Tom

[E-H]

18 hours ago, WRB said:

You need to learn what your sonar unit is displaying. What you see as a fish using fish ID mod isn’t a fish. Your unit can only display the air in the fishes bladder, all fish look the same depending on size and swimming speed.

1. Turn off the fish ID mod .

2. Learn to use the sonar in manual settings in lieu of automatic factory settings.

3. Clear water sparse aquatic vegetation I suggest buying Don Iovino paper back book Finesse Bass Fishing and the Sonar Connection. Excellent tutorial on basic sonar use and settings, plus finesse techniques that work in clear structure lakes.

Chirp helps separate sonar returns for background cover. 

After to practice using your current sonar in manual setting and reading Don’s book, then you will be more informed and able to read sonar to take advantage of the newer technology?

Tom

Thanks for the info.  I will check out the book.  I did watch quite a few videos just before going  out and after my original post, which were helpful in understanding the old and new tech.

 

I just got back from a trip and didn't have a mount for the display and set it on the floor.  It was really windy and I was standing up.  I got a little bit of use out of it but need a tall mount to be able to see it better.  Impossible to keep the boat straight in the wind which was pretty bad most of the time.  I plan on taking a longer trip in early July and mapping out the lake and putting in markers.

 

The good news is despite the wind we landed over 60 SMB and several decent size for the lake. 

 

Tough to find a mount at a decent price that's 12" or more and I would like it removable if possible.  I saw some recommendations on using the RAM ball mounts but still looking into it.

 

Seems almost cheaper to get the attwood quick lock stuff, like I have for my seats and just mount it to the top of one of those pedestals.

[WRB]

The RAM C size Long arm mount will raise the unit screen about a foot off the deck ( 10 1/2” + the original mount about 3”). I used this mount with 7” Lowrance bow sonar for about 15 years without any issue. My console unit also had a short arm size C RAM. RAM mounts are easy to remove the sonar unit to store when traveling. I always remove my sonar units when trailering my boats.

Todays Spot Lock TM’s are worth the price fishing deep structure windy lakes. 

Sounds like you had an outstanding outing!

Good luck,

Tom

 

[E-H]

8 minutes ago, WRB said:

The RAM C size Long arm mount will raise the unit screen about a foot off the deck ( 10 1/2” + the original mount about 3”). I used this mount with 7” Lowrance bow sonar for about 15 years without any issue. My console unit also had a short arm size C RAM. RAM mounts are easy to remove the sonar unit to store when traveling. I always remove my sonar units when trailering my boats.

Todays Spot Lock TM’s are worth the price fishing deep structure windy lakes. 

Sounds like you had an outstanding outing!

Good luck,

Tom

 

Thanks Tom.  I will look for those RAM pieces.

 

I picked up a Terrova a couple of years ago with spot lock and it has been a life saver, especially this last trip.  Completely unfishable for my 1542 jon boat without it.